Edinburgh

JLL comments on impact of the LBTT on Scotland’s commercial and residential markets

2014-10-10T05:00:00Z

Edinburgh, 10 October 2014 - The Scottish Government has announced that from April 2015 Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Scottish Landfill Tax will replace stamp duty and UK-wide landfill tax in Scotland.

“The level of tax announced by the Scottish Government is certainly higher than the commercial property industry in Scotland had hoped for. Having a different rate and system to the rest of the UK will inevitably put us at a slight disadvantage. However, more importantly it will take some time to understand the impact on valuation, particularly on yields, as the existing evidence is based on the UK system.

“Those with Portfolios will see the impact as soon as they are revalued, and for some this could be quite quick. This in turn will play through to peoples pensions as property forms an important part of the asset bases.

“A further concern is that a two tier system, one for Scotland and another for the rest of the UK, will create uncertainty amongst investors regarding future fiscal change in Scotland including, potentially, changes to corporation tax.

“On the residential side, the impact will be more limited outside of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and a handful of affluent Glasgow suburbs where most of Scotland’s higher value housing is concentrated.”